KAKAMMPI News

Despite the name, a drug mule is actually a person who smuggles something with him or her across a national border in exchange for money. Drug mules often face health risks with their odd job. MANILA, Philippines - Drug syndicates have found ingenious ways of smuggling thousands of dollars worth of prohibited substances: stuffing and sewing drugs inside the bodies of willing Filipino travelers. With the advent of high-tech equipment capable of prying into the thickest luggage, Derrick Carreon, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) revealed that drug syndicates, mostly from West African countries, employ various methods to sneak drugs inside Filipino “drug mules." One of the most common ways of smuggling drugs through human “mules" is by making them swallow plastic capsules containing several kilograms of the illegal narcotics. Others have died using this method. “They often forget these things are poisonous," Carreon told GMANews.TV in an intervie...

MANILA, Philippines — A migrants rights group on Thursday questioned the Philippine government’s priorities in assigning a police attaché to Saudi Arabia instead of providing more legal experts to assist the numerous cases of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The Hongkong based Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APPM) said Senior Supt. Jimmy L. Manabat of the Philippine National Police arrived in Riyadh on February 24 to serve as police attaché to combat transnational crime. He was accompanied by SPO4 Wendel D. Vergara, who will be his administrative assistant. The Intelligence Group of the PNP is the unit that posts and manages police attachés and staff for foreign intelligence operations. It defines its mission as performing intelligence and counter-intelligence operations directed against individuals or organized groups engaged in subversion, insurgency and other forms of activities that are considered threats to national security. It builds intelligence networks against ...

MANILA, Philippines A 49-year-old Filipino man has been arrested in Australia for allegedly trying to bring in child pornography, an online report said on Wednesday. The West Australian said that the suspect was stopped by Customs and Border Protection at the Perth International Airport last Friday after arriving on a flight from Singapore. The report said that child pornography materials were found on an external hard drive and a DVD during an inspection of his luggage. The man was then arrested and charged. He has been requested to appear at the Perth Magistrates Court on March 27. Customs and Border Protection national investigations manager Richard Janeckzo said in the report that “people should be aware of Australia’s strict laws relating to importing and possessing child pornography." “Australia has strict laws regarding child pornography and those who attempt to import such materials face very serious consequences," he said. The Filipino is currently facing a maximum p...

MANILA, Philippines - Three Filipinas were rescued recently from a prostitution den in Malaysia, Senator Manuel Villar has said. Villar said Grace, Evelyn, and Rhea were rescued by officials of the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, with the help of Malaysian authorities, from a house in Kuching where they were locked up. Embassy officials reportedly got the information about the prostitution den from Grace, who called up Villar’s overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Helpline (09174226800). “The repatriation of three of our kababayan is a victory brought about by the cooperation of government agencies. Nagpapasalamat tayo sa tulong ng embahada sa Kuala Lumpur at Malaysian authorities sa maagap nilang pagtugon sa ating panawagan sa pamamagitan ng OFW Helpline," said Villar. [The repatriation of three of our kababayan is a victory brought about by the cooperation of government agencies. I am thankful to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian authorities for their immedi...

KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV MANILA, Philippines - The National Youth Commission (NYC) is currently in search of 28 Filipino students, professionals, and even out-of-school youth who will participate in a 52-day leadership training onboard a Japanese luxury ship bound for five Southeast Asian countries. NYC’s Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP) will allow applicants who pass the interviews, examinations, and trainings to fly to Japan in October and stay there for 10 days before cruising to five Southeast Asian countries. Chairman Richie Nalupta said in an interview that two slots will be allotted for each region in the Philippines. Only those aged 18 to 30 may apply. Nalupta said those who qualify for the program will live on board a Fuji Maru ship together with 320 participants from 10 Southeast Asian countries – 280 participants from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and 40 from Japan. “...

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines pressed anew for reforms in the United Nations Security Council, seeking to curtail the veto power of permanent members. Philippine Ambassador Hilario Davide Jr. said the Philippines also wants member states to overturn or override a veto by any of its five Permanent Members. “The exercise [of the veto power], either for a good reason or out of whims or caprice, could render ineffective the Security Council, or make it — and even the United Nations itself — a toothless tiger," Davide told the General Assembly last Monday. Excerpts of Davide's address were posted Wednesday on the website of the Philippine Mission to the UN. Davide made the call at the Informal Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Matters Related to the Council, and more particularly on the issue of the veto. He said the veto powe...

MANILA, Philippines — Qatar’s Ministry of Labor has rejected the complaints filed some Filipino workers against Woolim-Hyundai Engineering on grounds that their contracts were not valid, Migrante-Middle East said on Tuesday. John Leonardo Monterona, Migrante Middle East coordinator, said in an e-mail that OFW Gil Lebria and other several co-workers visited the Labor Ministry in the capital city of Doha to formally file their complaints against their employer. However, ministry officials rejected the complaints because the contracts did not have the required Arabic translation. "This validates our worries that even the Qatar Labor Ministry would not recognize labor-related complaints from Woolim-Hyundai Co.’s workers because their contracts lack a very basic legal requirement. Now where on earth can the OFWs lodge their complaints?" Monterona said. Earlier, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Doha confirmed to Lebria that the employment contract he showed to them wa...